Apparition
by xxagent182xx
Summary: ap·pa·ri·tion - a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, a ghost; a specter or phantom. Spoilers for Another Note. Rated for gore, disturbing imagery, violence, and Beyond Birthday.
1. Chapter 1

**Apparition**

Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note or its characters.

**Warning: Major spoilers for Death Note: Another Note**

**Chapter 1**

It could barely be heard; Light had to stop typing to hear it. He could have sworn he heard footsteps on the floor above them. His eyes roamed across the room taking in the Kira Task Force until they rested on the great detective, L. He was balancing in a chair, the tips of his feet being the only thing touching it. He was crouched forward towards his computer, one hand placed idly against his bottom lip and the other picked at his sickly sweet piece of cake.

Light shook his head as a dark eye sent a curious look in his direction. L always knew when he was being watched, much to Light's dismay. "Something the matter, Light?" The words seemed friendly enough to the others, but not to Light. Everything L said had double meanings. He was always trying to convict him of something. Whether it's about him being the mass murderer Kira or stealing his snacks, there was always something.

L smiled gently, "You wanted some cake, didn't you?" Light hadn't gotten a good look at the older man all day; his eyes had been glued to the computer screen. He was shocked, somehow (if it was possible) L looked like he was getting less sleep than usual. The bags under his eyes were darker and more prominent. Maybe the stress of him being handcuffed to his prime suspect had something to do with that….

Light rolled his eyes. "Um, no thanks, Ryuzaki… I'm pretty full from dinner." He turned his concentration back on his computer screen. He scanned over lists and lists of Kira victims. There were thousands dead, and they were no closer to catching the bastard. "Actually, there is something… Is Watari here?"

L didn't bother to look away from his screen. "No, I sent him out for more toffee. Is there something you require?"

"No… I thought I heard footsteps upstairs… I must be tired. My mind is playing tricks." L was silent for a few moments as he considered Light's words.

"Yes, that must be it." The chain between them jingled as L pushed aside his chocolate cake. "Maybe we should all go to bed early. I'm feeling a little under the weather… I will wait until Watari returns." He slowly stood, "The rest of you may go home for the evening. I want you back bright and early."

Matsuda's face lit up. "Really, L? …I mean Ryuzaki…" He blushed furiously.

"Matsuda!" Soichiro Yagami glared at the younger police officer. "Alright, Ryuzaki. We will be back at 7am." He smiled fondly at his son, resting a warm hand on his shoulder. "Goodnight Light…" He gave his son's shoulder a squeeze before he left for the night.

The two geniuses sat in silence for over an hour. Light tapped his finger on the desk as he continued through the names, trying to see if there were any connections. He felt like he had been doing this for months, but it had only been a few hours. It was getting depressing.

That's when he heard it again—footsteps upstairs. Louder this time, as if the person was stomping around at the far corner of the room above.

"Watari must be back," L said softly. He pressed his microphone. "Watari, please bring me my toffee?" Silence followed. The stomping continued until it moved right over them and it stopped. _Maybe someone broke in? Could it be Kira?_ Light shifted nervously in his seat. L didn't seem concerned that there could be someone sinister upstairs. "Watari?" He said again, sternly. They received a reply but it scared the shit out of Light. The computer screen flickered several times as a low rasping voice came through the speakers. It started as a whine and it progressed to one word, _L_. The sound continued for a minute and it died down to silence. The two stared at the screen. Light's heart was pounding.

"… What the hell was that?" Light's voice shook as he spoke. The sound had been so odd, it sounded like a dying animal's cry. L eyes were wide with interest; his thumb was pressed into his bottom lip.

"Curious…" Light's eyebrow lifted at the word. "I've never heard such a sound. It certainly wasn't Watari. Could have been feedback from the microphone…"

"Feedback from the microphone?" Light crossed his arms. "Is that what you honestly think, Ryuzaki? It said 'L'; I didn't know mic feedback could speak English."

"I can't say I have a reasonable explanation for that… It didn't sound like Watari…" At _Watari_, the door to the room opened; in walked the old man, brown bags in his hands and a bright smile on his face.

"Good evening. I brought your toffee." He placed the bag on the desk next to L and looked between the two, his smile fading. "What is it, Ryuzaki?"

L was quick to reply, "It's nothing."

_L and his lies…_ "We heard a strange sound, that's all."

"Hmm…" Watari looked thoughtful at the two. "Maybe you two need to get some rest. Staying awake too long is not good for you."

"Maybe you should tell _Ryuzaki _that. I'd happily go to bed at a reasonable time."

"Three in the morning isn't reasonable?" L's lips move into a playful smirk.

"Off to bed, you two." Watari picked the bag up. "I will store this with the rest of your food." Light laughed at that. _Watari considered that junk that L ate to be food?_ Light shut his computer down for the night; the older detective did the same next to him. Watari followed them to their room. He stopped at the door and said goodnight to them both. As Light laid under the heavy blankets his thoughts wondered back to the phantom footsteps and that weird voice. _What in the world had it been? A ghost? No… it didn't make sense in any logical way, but neither does… well, a lot of things… Kira can kill with a face and a name, so why can't ghosts be real? _Light shook off the thought. He was too tired for thinking tonight. He spared a glance in L's direction. He wished that L would turn to face him so he could see his eyes closed. Without those blank eyes staring into his soul (and accusing him of being a mass murderer) he might be able to be friends with him. He was surprise that L dared to turn his back on him; if he was a murderer he could easily kill him in his sleep. He suspected Watari was watching the room all night... that might make him sleep a little better.

The chain jingled loudly as L tossed back and forth several times, taking most of the blankets with him. _Selfish brat_. Light couldn't help but smile as his eyes slid shut.

_Light shuddered as he peered at his reflection. His face… His hands moved up to touch his cheek… it was rotting. As his fingertip touched the blackened area, his skin disintegrated like ashes. He let out a loud sob as the skin disappeared into the air._

_The hair on the back of his neck stood up. He was being watched. He quickly whirled around; there was nothing behind him but darkness. He called out for L, for his father, anyone. _

_Hot, foul air brushed against his face—it seemed to push his skin away, causing it to curl and rot. There was nothing next to him… he was standing alone in the dark. _

_An overwhelming sickening smell lingered in the air; it stunk of rotten meat. His hands moved to cover his nose, but a white, sharp pain at his stomach stopped him. He choked and his body fell forward, landing ungracefully on his knees, his arms curling around his abdomen. _

_The pain rose and rose to his throat, his hands followed. It was as if something was crawling through his body trying to escape. His nails tore at the skin of his throat, blood appeared in the small tears. He screamed in pain, he'd never experienced so much agony- _

_**OH GOD! It was coming up his throat! **_

_His eyes widened in terror as his mouth opened of its own accord. Scarlet and bile covered fingers emerged from his throat. Blood spilled from his mouth as he tried to scream—the fingers turned to a hand—then to an arm. He was screaming—_

Light's brown eyes tried to focus. He panted heavily; a cool sheen of sweat covered his body. His hand lifted from under the blankets to touch his brow. _A nightmare…_ he sighed, relaxing his head against the pillow. It felt so… so real. He turned to face L, who was in a similar position. His thumb was in his mouth, an odd smile on his face as he stared back.

Light gave a frustrated sigh, "A bad dream does not constitute me being Kira." L's head tilted at his words, but he remained silent. Light could see the gears in his head working to figure something out. Light finally got a good look at L's face—his dark hair was moist and in tangles… did he have a nightmare as well? He wouldn't be surprised. From what he could tell, L had seen some pretty bad stuff that would scar most people for life. "You had a nightmare too…"

L's eyes betrayed nothing; he yawned sharply and sat up. "It's almost five—we should get an early start, seeing as we went to bed earlier than we normally would have." _Why did I have to wake up?_ Light scowled and followed L out of their bed.

X.X.X

It was two hours before the rest of the team showed up. Matsuda's eyes were half-lidded, he obviously had a rough night. They all got a good laugh out of Matsuda tripping over a chair. Well… everyone but L; he was already off in his own little world typing away. The day was otherwise uneventful. That night, on the other hand…. Was an entirely different story.

The others had left around 8pm that night. There hadn't been any breaks in the case, so there was no reason to keep them away from their families any longer. Matsuda was more than happy to leave but the others left reluctantly. Light started noticing L's depression a few weeks beforehand. Light didn't think anyone else would notice it, but he did. It was subtle things: the detective wasn't eating as much junk, he crouched more than usual, he talked less, and was less argumentative with Light. The others probably saw it as a breath of fresh air, but it annoyed the hell out of Light. _How were they going to catch Kira if L wasn't working at his full potential? At this rate, they were never going to arrest them. _

Other than L typing at his laptop, the room was eerily silent. Light was still looking tediously through names, but there was something… something different with these names. Some of the more recent victims of Kira were all higher-ups in competitive businesses… He scrolled down through the names and several more were showing up. There was also something else odd with the time and dates of the deaths… they were all occurring around the same time. Light let a triumphant smile cross his face. Yes! They'd finally gotten a break! He swiveled in his chair to face L.

"Ryuzaki! I found something. I've been tracking all of Kira's deaths, and within the last month, all the victims were killed on Mondays at 8pm. This breaks the pattern! The other thing I noticed was that all the people who have been killed are from businesses that—"

L's eyes had lit up. "Yes, I see…" He paused for a minute, bringing up a list on his computer, quickly taking in the information and names. "What do you know about the Yotsuba group?"

"Not much… I know that they've been doing rather well lately…."

"If you look at the list of people killed and compare them with Yotsuba's competitors…." Light leaned over L to see the list. "Not a single person from Yotsuba has been killed by Kira... and Yotsuba happens to gain from these deaths." A small smile appeared on L's pale face.

Light smiled back at his friend. "Should I call the others?"

L contemplated silently for a minute. "No, we need to double-check this information before we decide our next course of action. Light, please print what you have and I will do the same. We can line up what we have, then proceed with our investigation. If we are correct about our assumptions, we may have found a third Kira." A wide grin appeared on L's face. It had never occurred to Light that he hadn't seen the detective smile like that. He appeared truly happy, if only for a moment... The smile faded as he went back to work.

After they both printed the names and dates, they sat at a round table, the papers scattered across it.

"I have the list of people who work for Yotsuba. There's several hundred…" Light frowned. _This is going to take a long time…_

"We need to see who would gain the most out of these deaths. An everyday worker wouldn't necessarily be a suspect. Anyone low on the chain would have less than one percent suspicion… now… someone in _management_… would have more than fifty percent suspicion. They have more to gain if the competition dies. That will narrow the list down to…" The black haired man was silent as he scanned through pages and pages of names. "About fifty people." His eyes met with Light's.

"How will we find out who Kira is? That's still a lot of people. Are we going to go by personality profile, or continue with who has more to gain?"

L dropped a marshmallow into his mouth. "What do you think?"

"Hm… I think that if we go by who has more to lose on its own, there are some people who will get pulled in who aren't the type to murder. But if we go on both… we could see who would be more likely…"

"Yes, that's what I was thinking. We can also go through lists of known Kira supporters or people who associate with Kira supporters to see if we can make any type of connection."

"I don't know about you, Ryuzaki, but I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight. This is too much. We're close to catching Kira."

"I'll have Watari make us a pot of coffee." L talked to Watari over the speakers and a moment later Light and L wandered into the kitchen. Light rummaged through the sweets-filled refrigerator until he found an apple. He took an eager bite. L peered at Light with interest… or more so, the apple in his hand. "Light likes apples?" A sly smirk came to his face. "So does Kira…"

Light sighed heavily. "We've discussed this before, most people like apples, Ryuzaki. I'm surprised these are in here, considering all you eat is junk." He took a large bite of the red apple.

"Watari bought those especially for you." He ignored most of what Light said… like usual. He has very selective hearing.

L opened the refrigerator. "I've been craving that toffee Watari got yesterday…" He reached in and grabbed the box of sweets. A deep frown settled on his face as he opened it. He looked like a child who discovered Santa wasn't real. "I don't recall eating all of them…"

"You go through that junk so fast I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

"…No… I only had two pieces. I wasn't feeling well so…" He tossed the box onto the counter top, sending the wrapped toffee inside tumbling.

Light's eyebrow gently lifted. "Are you blind? The box is full."

"I have perfect vision. I could tell if there was candy in that box." He snapped at Light. He looked at the box again and it was empty. "I don't see anything."

"You don't see the silver-wrapped toffee?" Light picked one up between his fingers and showed it to L. "You don't see this?"

L shook his head. "I see your fingers appearing to hold something, but there is nothing there."

"Hold your hand out." L did so as Light dropped the candy into his hand. He felt a small weight on his hand and closed his fingers around it. The distinct sound of a plastic candy wrapper being crumpled filled the air.

He frowned and opened his fingers. "I feel something in my hand, but I can't see it. This is…" His eyebrows were drawn together in a perplexed look.

Light laughed. "I guess your lack of sleep has finally caught up with you. I'm surprised you haven't had problems until now."

"This isn't from lack of sleep." He shook his hands over the sink, dropping the candy into it. "This is something else…" He trailed off, bringing his hand to his bottom lip; he bit his nail nervously.

Watari walked silently into the room, a pleasant smile on his aged face. "The coffee is brewing." He looked between the two.

"Ryuzaki has finally gone crazy." Watari's smile turned to concern and he moved to L, gently touching his back.

"What's wrong, Ryuzaki?"

He brushed the older man off. "Nothing to be concerned with. We have work to do."

Watari persisted in a low voice. "Is this like last time?" Light's ears perked up at that. _Last time…? _

"I don't know… Maybe. I don't want to discus it at this time." The brunette looked between the two, flabbergasted. Another secret. Light scowled, he was sick of the secrets and lies. Couldn't he tell the truth for once in his god damned life? He'd get it out of him eventually.

X.X.X

It was quiet again. L was drinking his sugar-coma inducing coffee, using a piece of licorice as a straw. Light shook his head. For all his brains, L acted just like a child sometimes. Watari's words were still on his mind. It was annoying how L could make him feel frustrated so easily. He knew L was secretly reveling in the fact that Light was thinking about what had been said.

"You know Ryuzaki, you don't have to keep everything a secret. This isn't going to help me discover your true name. What's going on? What happened before?" L turned to face Light, his face as blank as ever.

"As I said before its noth-" There was a loud crash above them causing all the lights in the room to flicker at the same time. Light visibly jumped at the sound, his heart thumping wildly in his chest.

"What was that?" Light shouted, his eyes wide. Loud footsteps sounded above them moving towards the darkened staircase. The youngest member of the task force jogged towards the stairs, halting at the bottom, L trailed behind him.

A feathery touch of fingertips were at Light's shoulder. "Light! Don't! Stay down here. If someone is there they could kill you." Light was shocked at the amount of emotion behind his voice. It was one of the few times it ever sounded like he cared about anyone besides himself.

"If they're here to kill anyone it's probably L. Stay behind me." _They'll have to go through me to get to L. _Light peered up the stairs into the darkness. "Watari?" Silence followed. He slowly moved up the staircase until the chain stopped him and peered down the empty hall, with an exasperated sigh he walked back towards L. "What the hell is going on?" He angrily crossed his arms. _No one was upstairs… this can't be what I think it is? ...Can it? Ghost aren't real… but it explains… well everything. L knows what's going on. It's obviously happened before, in this very building. Someone must have died when it was being built. _

A high pitched whine suddenly filled the air, it started off soft and it slowly got louder. The computer screens and lights flickered wildly.

They covered their ears as the sound intensified. L was shouting something to him but the sound was so loud…

The sound started to dissipate. Light was breathing heavily. "L… tell me what the fuck is going on! NOW!" L's dark eyes met his.

"I told you before Light, there is nothing 'going on' as you would say. I have nothing to say." L's calm exterior was starting to freak Light out. How could he be this calm in such a frightening situation? Light's lips pressed into a thin line.

"Something is going on and I'm going to find out what it is." L was silent, he turned away from Light. His shoulders were slumped forward more than usual. "Ryuzaki, hey, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I'm just… I have no idea what's going on. Now, I'm not going to be able to sleep for another reason. I'm exhausted." He said softly.

"I don't know what's going on, I really don't. I don't have an answer." Light cast him a worried glance.

"We'll figure it out. It'll be a side case. We'll capture Kira and we'll figure out what's going on. If anyone can figure it out, it's you." L turned to face him, a small smile on his face. Complimenting L skills as a detective always got him in a better mood.

"Alright Light. We need to focus. Kira is our main priority." The detective took in a deep breath. "Kira is someone in the Yotsuba group."

To be continued…

AN: Thank you for reading! Special Thanks to my rad Beta JJ! Right now, I don't have my own computer so I'm pretty slow with updates.


	2. Chapter 2

**Apparition**

**Chapter 2**

**Warning: Major spoilers for Death Note: Another Note**

Light had been asleep for a little more than an hour when he heard the worried cry—

"Ryuzaki? Ryuzaki?" Watari was frantically looking in the bathroom, pulling back the white curtains. Each sound was louder than the next. Light's eye cracked opened, taking a peek at the old man, briefly wondering what had him so upset. He now stood next to the bed, a deep frown on his face, each line of stress more prominent. His hands reached for Light's throat.

He scrambled back. "What's going on?" The bed was empty. Light tried to flee, but there was still a heavy fog over his mind; a painful throbbing started at his temples.

"What have you done with him, Kira? You've killed him, haven't you?" His aged hands grabbed Light's throat and squeezed. Familiar voices filled the air, and the hands were pried off. Light took in a deep breath, savoring it for a moment; his hand gently rubbed the tender skin.

His eyes focused on Watari—unshed tears were at his gray eyes. "What's going on?" He wheezed. His father and Aiber held the old man in place.

"Ryuzaki is missing. The video footage seems to have been tampered with. Do you know anything about this, Light?"

He looked into his father's sad eyes. "No, we went to sleep maybe an hour ago. I didn't hear him get…" His eyes looked down to his wrist. The chain had been… broken at L's cuff. He moved the cuff to examine it—the metal was completely warped and melted. His eyebrows drew together in confusion.

"No need to be concerned… I'm here." L's monotone voice sounded behind them. Everyone turned towards him, shocked that he was alive, and… soaked head to toe, his hands were shoved deep in his soggy pockets.

Matsuda gushed. "L! I'm so glad you're okay!" He rushed forward to tightly hug the skinny man.

L choked out, "That's…enough…"

Light crawled out of bed. His voice rescuing L from Matsuda's grip. "Where were you? Outside?" Light meant it as more of a clarification—of course he was outside.

"Nice deduction, Light. You must be as intelligent as they say. I… must have sleepwalked up to the roof…" His fingers slipped between his teeth and he nibbled on them in thought. "It's never happened before... I suspect I still wanted to work." Light wasn't convinced but he'd accept the answer for now.

Watari fetched L a warm towel and change of clothes. The towel was draped over his bony shoulders. "We have new information about Kira that I'd like to share with you. Light, if you'd get the information ready… I'll be down in a few minutes to present it." Light frowned as L disappeared into the restroom. The others had very confused looks on their faces all but Matsuda, he had a dopey grin on his face still.

"News about Kira! That's great!" Matsuda chirped and left the room, followed closely by the others. They were all craving black coffee, and so was Light.

"I guess I'm not going to take a shower yet." Light murmured to himself as he quickly changed into his clothes. He definitely needed a shower, but, he was rather excited to tell the others the news. They hadn't gotten a break like this in well… since he'd been working on the case. Light finished buttoning up his shirt, the chain still dangling from his wrist. It was weird to not have L attached to him at the wrist anymore… he happily hadn't mentioned anything about it, either. His eyes wandered to the restroom door. Light shown from under the door and he could faintly hear the sound of water running. Something very weird was going on here…. _While the others are trying to find Kira… I think I'm going to do some research of my own…_ As much as he wanted to catch Kira, whatever the hell was going on here was scaring the living daylights out of him. L obviously knew something—he's a genius, for god's sake. The question is, what does he know…?

L emerged from their room about fifteen minutes later. His hair was damp, but he was in dry clothes. Light couldn't tell if they were clean or not—everything of his looked like it was covered in a sugar film. Their eyes met for a moment. Beneath the nothingness of L's black eyes, there was something else—worry.

L took his spot at his laptop; his shoulders sagged heavily. In front of L was a cup of coffee, 4 strudels covered in cream, and a jar filled with sugar cubes. He dropped numerous sugar cubes into the coffee before taking a small sip. Light scowled at his behavior—it was as if anything that wasn't sickeningly sweet was poison to him. If he was Kira, he'd know how to defeat him: lock him up with no sweets and make him eat healthy food. Light felt a maniacal laugh building… He decided against it. He didn't care to be stared at like he was crazy… that was L's job.

X.X.X

L was very vague with his explanation of their findings. Light understood why. They didn't have much to go on—they only had minimal information, and they were banking on hunches. If anything got out and they were wrong, it could end in a lawsuit.

Light was exhausted; they'd slept for maybe an hour. He wouldn't last very long today. He was ready to curl up in his bed again, warm, and hopefully without the brainy detective. He let out a heavy sigh, resting his head on his palm. It was going to be a long day. He let his eyes slide shut for only a moment…

_Light's eyes opened… everything was hazy and dark. What the hell…? He tried desperately to move his limbs, but they didn't respond. This must be a dream… I'm dreaming… The body he inhabited moved forward slowly and quietly, like a predator. _

_Questions were flying through his mind: Where am I? Why can't I move myself? Am I dreaming? What the hell is going on? He screamed as loud as he could, but his body would not respond. The only answer was, I'm dreaming. Just let it be, it's only a dream… _

_He could see again as he entered another room of the small house. A lamp on a nearby desk was still on. The desk had a computer on it, paperwork strewn about. He soon found himself in the living room; his eyes moved place to place quickly, taking in facts about whoever lived there. A woman lives here. There were pictures of friends and family on the blue walls. Big pillows lined the cream colored couch. It reminded him much of Misa's apartment. Very comfortable and relaxing. _

_He reacted as his eyes came to rest on a woman's body on the floor. A few feet away from her laid broken glass. A weight shifted from his shoulder. His eyes were drawn to red numbers floating supernaturally over her head. There was also something written in English, 'Backyard Bottomslash.' How odd…. What does it mean? His shoes nudged the woman onto her back; he knelt down next to her. He studied her gentle features. She looks so… normal… Blood trailed from her nose and down the side of her face. His hand picked up her arm. He stared at the pale skin for a long moment, then dropped it carelessly to the floor. He suddenly stood up and in one swift movement, slammed his foot onto the helpless woman's arm. Her brown eyes weakly tried to push themselves open. A wicked laugh filled the room, getting louder and louder with each strike. Light didn't know how long it continued, but it was over 30 minutes. Light was in tears, screaming for it to stop. He was utterly horrified. _

_An angry huff came from the body he inhabited. "I guess I'll be moving onto… plan….… B?" A loud cackle followed the voice. He quickly moved away from the battered woman and into the kitchen. He opened several drawers before he saw what he wanted. A large cleaver. "Tasty… Tasty…" the voice chirped loudly as he picked up the knife then headed back to the woman. "One chop, two chops, three chops…" He could see brown eyes peeking underneath heavy lashes again. As he drew closer, the numbers over her head began to shift—it was as if it were a countdown… A countdown to… _

_Light screamed as the blade was brought down on the woman's left arm, completely severing it from the body. Bright red blood spurted from the wound. The arm was kicked away and his eyes roamed over the body; they stopped at her thigh. NO! Light shouted as the blade was brought down on her thigh, cutting partially through the muscle and bone. Tears streamed down the woman's face, all color drained from it. A laugh followed, and the blade was brought down again and again, completely severing the leg. _

_Blood pooled around the amputated body parts. His eyes lingered on the numbers above her head—they were quickly lowering to… zero… The blade slipped from his hand and onto the floor. He bent down and pulled open the bag he had dropped earlier. He took out several things: a hammer, nails, and two…. "So pretty…" He fiddled with the straw, making sure every piece was in place. These must be Wara Ningyo… Light vaguely recalled reading something about them in the newspaper a few years back… His hands placed one against a nearby wall; he then carefully nailed each one into the wall. He placed the hammer back into his bag along with the knife. He looked down upon the women he'd murdered. _

_A laugh bubbled from his lips. "You've been useful… but you won't be the last. Beyond will be the last… it'll be perfect… the perfect crime." He laughed so hard his side hurt. "L thinks he's so smart, I'll show him. He'll regret his own existence when I'm through with him…" He paused for a moment, taking in a breath, "We've been apart for too long…" He quickly turned; bag grasped between his fingers, and entered the restroom. He stood still for a moment, in front of the sink; the fingers of his right hand massaged the sink bowl, leaving trails of red—the porcelain cool under each digit. His eyes lingered on the blood trails for several minutes. The time seemed to draw out. He suddenly looked at the mirror–red eyes flaring–"I see you…." _

Light awoke with a jolt. He blinked several times, trying to focus his eyes. They came to rest on L's back. He looked around the room to see the others working. "Ryuzaki?" Light said softly, and pressed his back into the chair, vaguely wondering how long he'd been asleep.

L swiveled in his chair to face him, his face listless as always. "I wasn't aware that this topic was so boring to you."

Light sighed. "It's not, it's really not. I'm exhausted. I had a trying morning. Watari tried to kill me... _You_ don't seem too concerned about me trying to kill you. Have you finally used that genius brain of yours to figure out I'm not Kira?"

"Light, may I remind you that there are cameras everywhere, all watching you. Watari is currently out getting a new pair of handcuffs." Light took his seat next to L, rubbing his eyes as he sat down.

"What happened this morning? The handcuffs were—"

"Nothing to be concerned about at this time. I will be analyzing them and the video footage this evening, after the others have left. I assume that you'd like to join me?" Light gave a curt nod. "Good." L's dark eyes met with his. It always unnerved Light the way his eyes seemed to look into his soul, pushing at him to tell him everything he knows.

"I had a weird dream," Light started. "I usually don't remember my dreams but this one was…. It was like I was someone else, doing horrible things."

"Kira sort of things, or—"

Light shook his head, exasperated. "No, nothing like that. I couldn't control the body—it wasn't mine. In the dream, I was at a woman's house. She was murdered by this person, a man. She was drugged, and he beat her arm repeatedly for no sane reason. He just kept doing it. He was infuriated by it; it seemed to me that he was hoping something would happen. Then, he chopped off her arm and leg with a cleaver. It felt so real, as if I was there. I could see her tears, and the blood… The oddest thing was the straw dolls he nailed to the wall…" Something was vaguely familiar about that.

An unreadable expression came to L's face. "Straw dolls? Did he nail two?"

Light looked up from his computer, "Yeah, how did you know?"

L's eyes were wider than usual. "Did you read my file about…" His voice dropped to where it could barely be heard. "Beyond Birthday?"

Light sat for a minute. _Beyond Birthday? That name seems familiar._ "I recall the name, but that's all. ...Odd name."

"Indeed." He paused. "Are you sure?" His eyes were narrowed in suspicion.

"Of course I'm sure—what is this about?"

His shoulder gave a weak shrug. "I don't know." He lazily picked up his coffee cup and took a sip.

"You don't know? For a genius, you don't seem to know much." When L didn't answer, Light arched a brow, snorted, then turned back to his work. "Whatever." He didn't want to fight with L right now, he was too tired. Fighting and arguing would accomplish nothing. Light sighed heavily as he picked up a stack of papers in front of him and moved them aside. L was shutting him out again. He definitely knows something, and this person, 'Beyond Birthday', has something to do with it. At least now, he had something to go on. H was really surprised at that, L seemed to have slipped up. Had he said that to point Light in the right direction or was it a legitimate mistake? Only time would tell…

He brought up a search engine on his computer and typed in the name. When nothing came up, he went through police records. He let a triumphant smile grace his features. He found the name. A big X was over where his photo should have been. It was odd that a picture would be omitted. He opened up the extensive file. He scanned through the file, picking up the important details. It took place in Los Angeles. Three seemingly random people had been murdered by Beyond Birthday, and the investigator on the case was –the name looked familiar to Light– Special Agent Naomi Misora. He couldn't quite place it. The man had no Modus Operandi besides the straw dolls… Just like in his dream. They had been stabbed into the wall; each one had a different number of them on their wall. Two of the victims had been drugged, yet one had not… Nothing made sense so far. It turned out that the man who had been committing the crimes, Beyond Birthday, tried to kill himself by lighting himself on fire, attempting to make him appear to be the last victim. Special Agent Misora had put together what little evidence they had and found the man before he died. The case was nothing special—he killed a small amount of people, considering… Why the hell would he have such a vivid dream about a man he had no connection to?

He scrolled to the bottom of the screen to the case files, and several interviews with him by psychologists and FBI Agents. He clicked on the file, and a separate screen appeared: 'You do not have sufficient privileges to view this screen, please talk to your administrator for further questions.' Someone didn't want him to view the file. Light's lips quirked up. His Father could get into these files… He logged out, then back in as his Father.

Up popped several transcripts. He saved each one to his desktop, and opened the first one.

- RUE RYUZAKI -

DoB: Unknown (age unknown)

Rue Ryuzaki

Known as: Beyond Birthday,

BB,

Backup,

B

Appearance: 5 feet 7 inches, medium build, third degree burn scars covering face and visible areas of arms and chest, no hair, eyebrows, or eyelashes visible.

Interviewer: Naomi Misora

Interviewee: Rue Ryuzaki a.k.a. Beyond Birthday

Light stared at the words…. Ryuzaki…. That's odd….The sounds in the room drowned out as he continued to read.

1:15 pm — Agent Misora: Mr. Ryuzaki, you have been arrested as a suspect in the murders of three people: Believe Bridesmaid, Quarter Queen, and Backyard Bottomslash. Can you confirm your whereabouts on August 14, 2002?

= Suspect Rue Ryuzaki says nothing, taps fingers on table, then brings his legs up to sit in a crouching position. =

1:20 pm — Agent Misora: Sir, please answer the question.

1:30 pm — Rue Ryuzaki: I was…. killing what's his name… Believe. What a strange name, Believe... You know… we have the same initials.

=Suspect Rue Ryuzaki smiles, then stares at his right hand. =

1:35 pm — Agent Misora: You are confessing to the murder of Believe Bridesmaid?

= Suspect Rue Ryuzaki laughs at this for several minutes, until he speaks again. =

1:45 pm — Rue Ryuzaki: Am I?

1:46 pm — Agent Misora: _I'm_ asking the questions here. Are you confessing to the murder of Believe Bridesmaid?

1:50 pm — Rue Ryuzaki: I'm afraid so.

Light could have sworn the voice sounded like it was coming from the room. He frowned at the silence, and turned to see what the others were doing.

"…"

He was no longer at the Task Force Head Quarters, but in an interrogation room. Sitting at the table was Beyond Birthday, and standing behind the table across from him was (who he guessed was) Agent Naomi Misora. Light's eyes widened in horror. Had he fallen asleep? He looked back to where his computer had been and it too was gone. He sat in a very uncomfortable chair.

Agent Misora paced, her eyebrows drawn together. "What evidence do you have to prove this statement?" She stopped at the end of the table.

The man, Beyond Birthday, was silent for what felt like ages. Light's eyes trailed over his badly burned skin. He had ever seen a burn victim before; it was shocking to see what fire can do to a human's skin. How painful it must have been and for him to subjugate himself to it….. This man was utterly insane. Beyond leaned forward, his lips twisted into a sinister grin.

"Was there no evidence to link me to the crime scenes? …That's unfortunate… for the police." His voice held a slight British accent; it was almost as if he had been trying to hide it. If this man was someone L was familiar with, he wouldn't be surprised.

Agent Misora's beautiful face contorted with agitation. "There were traces of bleach on most surfaces of his house. Many you would not have gone near."

Beyond brought his scarred hands to the table and pressed them down upon it. "I am aware of this… I cleaned every surface… **every** surface. I cleaned his filthy skin…" His palms repeatedly hit the metal table, each time harder than the last.

"Stop that, now!" Beyond halted his movements. "Mr. Ryuzaki, there is no record of you being born. Why is this? Were you born in Japan?"

Beyond's behavior shifted drastically. His eyes darkened as he glared across at Naomi; his nails dug into the table until the started to peel back from the skin. Blood seeped from the wounds.

Naomi stepped back, fear written on her graceful features. "I think he's having a break down again, send someone in."

"L did this to me!" He screamed and started to tear at his burned flesh with his nails.

"Jesus!" Naomi cried, and two other Federal Agents rushed in.

"Get him under control!" An older Agent yelled to the other. Beyond's eyes a lit with a spark of fire, and he rushed at Naomi as she moved for her weapon. He grasped a hold of her from behind,his hands moving to either side of her neckwrapping the chain of the handcuffs around her neck.He tightened the metal against her throat.

"I will kill her…" He hissed, "If you take another step and don't do what I wish."

The young woman struggled against him. "Don't give into him!" Light stared in horror at her words. Did she have a death wish? This man was clearly insane and would do most anything to escape.

"Women can be so foolish…" He sneered. "I want you to bring L to me. _He_ is to interview me—not this pathetic excuse for an FBI Agent. I wasn't aware that the FBI allowed this inferior species of human among them." The two Agents in the room made no motions to help her. "Get me L!" He cut off Naomi's air supply. Her eyes widened, tears of pain at the corners of her eyes. "I **will **kill this stupid cunt if you don't—"

"If you release Agent Misora, we will do everything we can to get L to interview you."

Beyond instantly let her go. "That's more like it. Who knew the FBI could be so reasonable…" Naomi pulled in fresh air and was escorted out of the room, leaving Beyond and Light. Beyond's eyes flickered to where Light sat.

"You're Japanese, aren't you?" Light stared at him in disbelief. Was he talking to him? "I said, are you Japanese?" Light blinked several times then nodded a 'yes'. "Hm… I thought so. You, of course, know who _I_ am. And _you_ are…?" His eyes squinted, as if he was reading something. "Light Yagami."

To be Continued ….

AN: Thank you to my reviewers: Moonphase9, aquastreak243, and BeyondTheLimit1213. Special Thank you goes to my Beta JJ! At the end, Beyond reads the name 'Light' because he is reading the English translation, to my knowledge he speaks and reads English. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! REVIEWS ARE LOVED AND GREATLY APPRECIATED!


	3. Chapter 3

**Apparition**

**Chapter 3**

**Warning: Major spoilers for Death Note: Another Note**

Light couldn't describe the raw fear that bubbled in his chest. Something about this man was very… unsettling (aside from the scars). From his mannerisms and words, Light knew he was insane.

Words escaped from his mouth. "What is this?"

Beyond gestured at the room. "This is… a memory. A set I am… quite fond of…"

Light repeated, "A memory?" He blinked. How could he be in a memory? That's impossible. "This is a dream… But I never fell asleep."

"Yes Light… a dream…" The scarred man's head fell back and a loud cackle escaped him.

Light took a step back. "Why did you murder those people?"

A smirk tugged its way onto Beyond's lips. "Aren't you a… genius? Use that brain of yours to figure it out." His arms thumped against the chair he was handcuffed to.

Seeing that Beyond was cuffed to the chair still, Light took several steps closer. "You know L, don't you?"

"Yes, I know L. I've known him for a long time. He seems to think he knows me… He's wrong… he's wrong…" His arms snapped against the cuffs. He attempted in vain to shift into a crouching position.

"You tried to make the perfect crime, and L caught you." Beyond's mouth opened to say something, but quickly shut it. "I did read the case file. The only thing I don't understand is, why L? Yes, he's a great detective, but you targeted _him_ specifically. To my knowledge, he never partook in the case. And the names… three with the initials BB, and one with QQ. I know that wasn't a coincidence, and the names themselves were very unusual. Your real name, Rue Ryuzaki, has the initials RR. Why matching initials? To try and call L out?" If it was, it didn't work.

Beyond stared at Light, his eyes drifting over him and narrowing. "Answer me this, Yagami—what are you doing here? L, I'm sure, has plenty of intelligent men working with him…. But you are rather young. Obviously, you do not work for the police, unless Japan has a different policy with hiring High School children."

Light scoffed at his words. "I attend To-Oh University, not that it matters. My father is the Chief of the NPA, and has been working on the Kira case since day one. L felt that I could help with the investigation."

Beyond laughed loudly. "You're a good liar. You could have fooled… _most_ people. You can't fool me, and L knows that you've been lying or hiding something. Is that why he's handcuffed himself to you?"

Light's eyebrows drew together. "If you already knew this, why did you bother asking?" _And how does he know this?_

"I'm inquisitive."

"You didn't answer my question."

"….I hadn't planned on answering it." Light sighed heavily, thoroughly annoyed.

Light crossed his arms angrily. "What the hell do you know about L?"

"I've already told you enough. For now… I think… I think you need to wake up…."

The room started to shift around him, the colors fading out and becoming his computer screen. Light blinked, disoriented. He glanced over at L, who was reading something on his own monitor. Had he been asleep? Someone would have surely said something. _This is weird, really fucking weird._ His stare shifted back to the screen. The rest of the interrogation went as it had in… whatever that was. He closed it out and opened a second interrogation. His eyes widened at the name.

Interviewer: L (not present, interview over telephone. Monitored over third line by Watari)

Interviewee: Rue Ryuzaki, a.k.a. Beyond Birthday

Date: 1/15/2004

10:01 am — Beyond Birthday: (Picks up phone, smiling) L, I'm surprised you called. Really.

10:05 am — L: Beyond. I have contacted you as you wished. What is it that you want?

10:10 am — Beyond Birthday: You've hidden yourself from me, have you? I don't get to see your face… hear your voice...

10:15 am — L: Get to the point Beyond, I have things to attend to.

10:16 am — Beyond Birthday: Is that so? I'm not more important? I might just let some information slip to the guards, or this pesky psychiatrist who I have to talk to… Then you can tell me what's more important.

10:20 am — Beyond Birthday: That's better. Now L, you know what I want… I want you to come here and meet me in person.

10:22 am — L: You know I cannot do that, Beyond.

10:25 am — Beyond Birthday: What country are you in? I can arrange to meet you there. This place is only containing me because I allow them to. You know that.

10:29 am — L: I'm attending to matters with Watari and the children. You've caused some distress.

10:31 am — Beyond Birthday: They can see you, but I can't? What makes _them_ so special?

10:33 am — L: None of them have attempted to kill me.

10:35 am — Beyond Birthday: (Laughs) Is that what this is about? That was a long time ago, L. These doctors think they can figure me out by asking me generic questions. I tell them all sorts of lies to get reactions from them. They think I'm a cannibal necrophiliac, among other unsavory types. If you come in, I will truthfully answer anything you ask me. Don't you want to know, L…? What makes me…_ tick_?

10:46 am — L: Nothing you do interests me. You should know this by now. I don't care what… "makes you tick". You are in federal prison, away from others. What more could I ask for?

10:55 am — Beyond Birthday: L… L… L… I'm sick of your lies. I KNOW that you need to know what made me different from *Name Omitted* and *Name Omitted*. You NEED to know why I chose those people.

11:01 am — L: I _know_ why you murdered three innocent people.

11:02 am — Beyond: Oh? Pray, tell.

11:03 am — L: Because you're insane. You sank into a deep psychosis following the events of your first case. Seeing the blood and the mutilated bodies fueled your sexual perversions and sadism, and you wanted it again and again. I knew you were deeply disturbed when I met you. Watari didn't think so. He was not usually around when you were near me.

11:09 am — Beyond: Don't be so dramatic. You know when I killed those… people… I felt like I could finally take in a breath… I _felt _something… Nothing had ever made me feel anything… Besides _you_, of course. I wanted to be you for _years_, and then I wanted to kill you. I still want to kill you—I need to kill you. Without that, I… I don't know. My life would have been pointless. I wonder… what I will feel when I make your heart stop. I'll love it so much—I will keep reviving you, over and over… and over and over again. I won't be able to live after your death. That must be the only way to kill me.

11:21 am — L: Lethal injection will be the cause of your death.

11:23 am — Beyond Birthday: (Laughs) They can't prove without a doubt that I murdered those insignificant ants. I will never get the death penalty. You of all people should know how flawed the system is. It's only a matter of time before I escape. No fucking prison can hold me.

11:29 am — L: I have already thought this through. That is why, effective tomorrow, you will be transferred to a high security prison for the criminally insane.

11:30 am — Beyond Birthday: WHAT! (Beyond raises his voice, eyes narrowed) I will not be transferred! L, I'm telling you I will not be transferred. I'm going to fucking rip you to pieces!

11:31am — L: You won't be able to do anything in a straight jacket. Once you're contained, I will bring in my own psychologists… who have different, and more effective methods of getting information out of murderers like yourself.

11:33am — Call Ended

Light stared at the screen in shock. The implications at the end were frightening. He knew L was capable of doing a lot of things, but torturing information out of an insane man? It seemed very out of character. Torturing didn't get answers… Could it have been an idle threat to anger Beyond? L did love to play mind games. He definitely would not put it past him to do something like that. He skimmed back to the records. He was transferred to a High Facility prison for the criminally insane, and it looks like a year later he… Died of a heart attack… Kira killed Beyond.

_Great._ If Beyond was this poltergeist that seemed to be haunting them, and L thinks he's Kira… This couldn't end well for either of them. Beyond obviously has it out for L for some reason. Not just because he caught him. It was personal. They knew each other. Beyond's accent told him he was from England, and L had mentioned being a junior tennis champion in England… Whatever is going on started in England.

The rest of the day went on as usual—uneventful and pretty boring. Light was quite thrilled that the day went by fast—he'd finally be able to get some sleep and time to talk to L. The likelihood of L actually telling him anything of use was pretty slim, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Light waited until the others had trickled out of the building.

L had just finished off another sugar-coated treat when Light finally spoke to him. "Ryuzaki?" The name now sounded odd on his tongue, knowing it was someone else's name. "Who is Beyond Birthday?"

He was surprised by L's almost immediate response. "A murderer." He never turned away from his computer.

"I know that already. I mean, who is he to you?"

"He isn't anyone to me. He was an insane man who is now dead." Light wasn't going to get anything out of him until he picked the right question. They sat in silence for several minutes as Light contemplated the question.

"What do you mean to Beyond?" L's heavy sigh filled the room. His shoulders fell, and he slowly wheeled around in his chair.

"You're almost as stubborn as me. You and your father have many similar traits."

"I don't care about that. I need to know what's going on! Whatever it is, it has to do with this dead guy."

L stared at him, his finger loosely hooked in his mouth. "Do you believe in ghosts?" So, he had come to the same conclusion as Light had. Light nodded in response. "I've seen many things in my life, and until Kira, I had never seen anything supernatural, or anything to make me believe in any sort of life after death. Then there was Kira… then…. nothing made sense. Shinigami, killing with a name and a face—it's not possible. Now, this, Beyond. _Ghosts_…"

Light eyed L as he hunched forward. "I'm honestly surprised you hadn't run into something 'supernatural' sooner. All the criminals you caught and sentenced to death. Many of them were probably pissed at you."

"None of them _knew_ who I was. They couldn't pick me out of a crowd."

"So Beyond knew you."

"You could say that. He didn't know me in any way besides what _he wanted_ to see. He strived to _be_ me, and once he found that that was not attainable, he wanted to destroy me, be my antithesis. Him being all which is evil and I… all that is good. He attacked me several times, intent on killing me. Luckily, I was trained in combat. Watari has even had to pry his hands from my neck. After… the last attempt, I hadn't seen or heard from him until Los Angeles. Apparently, you know what happened there."

"That's great that you told me this, but you're missing one giant piece of information."

"And that is…?"

"God, you must delude yourself. How do you know Beyond?"

"I can't divulge that information to you, Light. I know this man, and that's all you need to know. I'm…" His eyes went to the floor. "I'm not_ sure_ what's happening right now."

Light frowned. L was acting so out of character it was astounding. "I don't, either, but we're close to figuring out who Kira is, and we're both pretty smart, so… We'll figure this out. Maybe…" His lips quirked up. "Maybe we should hire a psychic…"

Light received a low laugh from this. "We could—I know some people. I could make some calls. I'd like to look into some things first. Has anything else happened that you haven't told me about?"

"Well…" Light told L what had happened earlier, everything that he knew so far. L seemed agitated that he hacked into his father's account. "That's odd indeed."

"So all of that is true?"

"It is… Why is he going to you? There are several other men here, why choose you?"

"Well… I am usually handcuffed to you." Light offered with a friendly smile.

"It's never that simple with him. Whatever the case, Watari has fetched me a new pair of handcuffs."

"Great."

"I can see that Light is thrilled to be handcuffed to me again. I'll call—" They were startled by a loud crash behind them. They both turned with quick reflexes to see Watari standing a few feet away, a cup of something sweet laying in pieces on the floor. Their sights came to rest on Watari's face. He made no motion to move.

"Hey Watari, you scared us." The elderly man made no reply; his eyes stared at the floor. "Um… Watari?" Light got out of his chair and started forward, L's hand stopped him.

"Something is not right." L was standing too. "Light, stay where you are." He took a step closer. "Watari, are you feeling alright?"

A low laugh filed the eerie silence. Light was officially creeped out. He'd never heard the man laugh before, let alone laugh so… so… insanely. Watari's eyes slowly lifted from the ground to meet their faces. His eyes were all white. His pupils were gone. Light gasped, and L took a step back. Something was very wrong with Watari.

To be continued…

AN: Thank you so much for the reviews! Lots of love to everyone! Thank you to my reviewers: Viyola, Beyond-The-Limit, cuppycake panda1, siriusCloud68, Loves-Chihuahuas, BeyondTheLimit1213, moonphase9, and aquastreak243.


	4. Chapter 4

**Apparition**

**Chapter 4**

**Warning: Major spoilers for Death Note: Another Note**

Watari's eyes were completely white. The sight sent shivers down Light's spine. The unusually wide grin on his face reminded him oddly of…

"Beyond," Came L's voice, laced with venom.

Silence followed for several beats. "L, it's good to see you." Watari's voice was filled with a strange happiness Light had never heard. It also sounded as if it was mixed with another voice. "I made… your favorite treat! Strawberry short cake sprinkled with cyanide. I know how much you like to kill yourself with these tasty sweets." His eyes wrinkled from the wide smile. The contrast between Watari's voice and this voice was huge—it consisted of long pauses, and seemingly random emphasis on words…

Light couldn't find any words. Was he possessed? He had to be. What if he decides to attack them? What could they do? He didn't want to hurt the kind butler.

Watari's eyes seemed to be focused above their heads, as if there was something there to see. Light recalled seeing something there in the dream he had. Whatever it was, it made no sense. None of this did. The white eyes shifted to L's face, who hadn't made a sound since Watari had spoken. Light could almost feel the terror radiating off of him. That frightenedLight even more—if L was that scared, then what chance did Light have?

"L. I'm talking to you. It's rude to ignore people." He took a menacing step forward. Watari had never been menacing. He didn't even come close, with his sweet smile and warm eyes. He felt almost as if he was a part of Light's family. This couldn't be happening.

"Why have you come here?" L's voice was steady, his eyes not wavering from Watari's face.

Watari scoffed. "You know why I'm here." _To finish what he started…_ Light finished in his mind. The unspoken threat lingered in the air.

There wasn't enough room between Beyond and L. There wasn't enough space. A whole _country_ between them would not be enough. Butterflies moved rapidly in his stomach. _This isn't good_.

Light could feel his instincts trying to kick in. He wanted to grab L's skinny arm and run out of this place. The likelihood of them making it anywhere was slim, seeing as the doors were all secured. Light glanced to L; the wheels were turning in his head.

Watari's eyes narrowed to thin slits. "I'm going to break every bone in your body, slowly bleed you to death… All while your little friend here watches." Light swallowed nervously. He didn't exactly _like_ L, but he certainly didn't want to see him tortured. He didn't deserve that.He could only assume that after Beyond was finished, _he_ would be killed next. _Great, just great._ "You have such an… Interesting name, L. Who gave it to you? Was it your… parents? Or was it Mr. Wammy?" L's façade faulted at those words. His dark eyes widened ever-so-slightly.

"Why do you have such a fascination with my name?" L's voice had grown small.

"Because it's like mine." How was his name like L's? Rue Ryuzaki… Beyond Birthday… Maybe… The first two letters were the same. Two L's… "How many people know your true name? One… Two…?"

"Only one _person _knows my name." L's words came out as an angry hiss. Light assumed that person was Watari. He paused the thought—why were they even talking to this maniac when they could be running for their lives? Maybe L knew it was futile.

Then, Light saw Watari's face distort in anger, and he was on L—fingers wrapped around his small throat. He knocked L down and was on the floor over him, slowly killing him. L's eyes were wider than Light had ever seen them. L's bare feet kicked at the possessed man. Light's arms went around Watari's waist and he pulled as hard as he could. "Get off of him!" He didn't recognize his voice. This was so fucked up.

With one final pull, Watari fell back. L gasped for air, his hands rubbing at his bruised and aching skin. Watari struggled to get up, the anger on his face still bright as day. Light wasted no time—he grabbed L, pulled him to his feet, and ran, tugging the detective behind him. They got to the next door. It was locked, a keypad sat to the right. "Come on! Unlock the god damned door!" L quickly pressed in a number sequence. He could hear loud footsteps behind them. As they rushed through the door, Light saw Watari out of the corner of his eye. They stood behind the door; the only sounds were their heavy breathing.

There was a loud bang on the other side. "You can't stay in there forever!" Came Watari's voice. L's eyes were shut, his chest heaving and his fingers held loosely around his throat. If Kira hadn't killed Beyond, they wouldn't be in this situation. Beyond could possess anyone at anytime. The thought scared the shit out of Light. They had to leave; they couldn't stay in this building.

The banging stopped. Light breathed in a heavy sigh. "L… there's no use hiding. I can kill you anytime I want. If you come out of there, I won't have to kill everyone." L finally looked up, despair written on his face.

"You can't go out there. You're the only one who can catch Kira. I won't let you go out there. We'll just… we'll wait for the others to get here. We knew the risks when we joined you."

"I don't think the others would feel that way." Their eyes met, and silence followed. L might not be the easiest person to get along with, but he knew none of the others wanted him to be tortured and killed. Light would fight until his last breath to keep the genius alive. Light looked over to a clock. It had only been around 15 minutes since all of this started. It was as if they'd been sucked into a bizarre dimension.

A single thump sounded from behind the door. L's long fingers gently touched the door. "Watari?" Nothing followed. Some time passed. L paced quietly. "I think it's safe for us to go out. It's been quiet for awhile."

Light smiled at that. "I don't think so. How about _I_ go out and see if everything is fine."

"I won't send you out to be killed."

"Nah, I'll be fine. I think I can hold my own against Watari." Light slowly opened the door and peered out, his hands ready to slam it shut again.

He could see Watari lying on the floor a few feet away. He called his name and received no response. He motioned for L to follow. The moment L saw Watari on the floor, he rushed to his side.

"Watari?" He checked his pulse. "His heart rate is elevated…" He gently lifted his head, checking for injuries. "He's not injured, either." He repeated his name softly this time. A low groan came from the old man. Light readied himself for anything. Watari's eyes fluttered open, and Light was relieved to see his brown eyes. He looked around briefly, his gaze then resting on L.

"L…? What happened?" L helped him sit up.

"What do you remember?"

I was in the kitchen making you strawberries and cream, and then… I don't remember anything."

"Mm, you collapsed. You're lucky we found you when we did." Why was L lying to him? Did L live to keep everyone around him ignorant? "Did you experience any pain?" Watari shook his head as they helped him get to his feet.

"I've been rather tired." Watari weakly smiled. "I may need to sleep."

"I concur. Let's get you to bed." The two assisted Watari to his room. He gave them a quiet thank you, and they left, heading back to the main room of the building.

Light crossed his arms and said lowly, "It's going to show up on the security footage."

"I don't think it will. The footage will show you and I going out to assist Watari. The footage of myself while I was asleep was similar to this. It blurred out, then the screen was black until I came through the door. When _he_ is present, the electricity he puts out must interrupt the video stream…" That sounded plausible.

"So you're not going to tell him?"

"Unless it is a dire necessity, I will not tell him."

"We're going to stay here, then?"

"For now. We'll find a way to stop him."

X.X.X

L was adamant that he sleep. He told Light he'd watch over him. It wasn't that comforting. After today, he felt he would never sleep again until he passed out… That's exactly what happened. The second his head hit the pillow, he was in a deep sleep.

Light awoke to L's voice, and a cold hand on his forehead. He forced his eyes open to see L's very young and worried face. "Beyond feels warm—he must be coming down with something." He wanted to shout he wasn't Beyond, but his mouth wouldn't work. _Another dream._ This was odd. He didn't think L would risk being in the same _room_ with someone who had even a mild cough, but to actually _touch_ someone who had a fever, or possibly worse…

"Should we move him to the hospital wing?" Watari said behind him.

L shook his head, dark locks falling across his forehead. "No… not yet. He may come out of it. Keep the other boys away from him."

"We'll happily stay away." Another voice. Light peered at the blonde boy. He held a chocolate bar in his hand; he took a bite out of the confection. He looked at least half of L's age, probably younger. The child gave him a look-over, clearly displeased with Beyond, and left.

"Take no mind of him." Light could hear it—an English accent. It was pretty strong, considering that, as an adult**,** he no longer had it. L had to be…16? L still looked about that age. The bags under his eyes weren't as dark, though. It was so odd seeing him like that. He looked almost… _normal_. Although he still had that stupid white shirt and blue jeans on. "How are you feeling?"

Beyond cleared his throat, smiling. "I'm… I'm alright. I want to go to the crime scenes today."

"If you're not well, I will not allow you to go with the others." His eyes focused above L's hair to the red numbers again. There was something there, but it appeared to be blurred out. The numbers under it shifted.

"I told you I'm fine. I WILL go with the others."

L considered him briefly. "You may go, but Mr. Wammy will accompany you in case you start to feel unwell."

"I'm not a baby!"

"When you stop acting like one, then I will treat you differently." His words were cold. Beyond didn't take them well.

He lunged forward, his nails clawing at L. They both tumbled to the floor. Beyond's crazed laugh echoed through the room as he repeatedly struck the genius. He rained hits onto his face, chest, and his struggling arms. All he could see was red.

Watari pulled Beyond back, shoving him across the room. "Beyond!" His voice thundered. His eyes focused completely on L. His bottom lip was severely swollen, blood dribbling from a wound. A small cut was on his forehead above his eyebrow, and his nose was mildly bleeding. Light felt his heart rate sky rocket. It was loud in his ears. The blood rushed through his veins. Was it just the blood? Was it because L was bleeding? He didn't know. His fingers clenched and unclenched with deadly intent.

L looked up at him through dark bangs, clearly betrayed by this boy. Light wondered briefly if they were the same age.

"This behavior is not acceptable, Beyond! You've been told before." Watari said; he was enraged. How many times has he attacked L? "You are the oldest boy here—we want the others to look up to you, and strive to be like you."

"No one wants to be like me." His finger pointed accusingly at L. "They want to be _him_. Look at him—spoiled rotten. He has everything! What makes _him_ so special? _I_ could be like him. I'm just as smart… I can look like him, too! I can… I can…" His voice trailed off. He had one thing he knew L didn't have, insanity. "B _will_ become L." Beyond's eyes followed L as he got to his feet, cradling his jaw. His original look was of sympathy, then revulsion. From what Light could see, L was rather kind to the boy, considering how violent and angry he was. Light watched as the numbers shifted, getting lower and lower. Was this his life span? It seemed that when Beyond was angry, it shifted lower. He had a supernatural power before he died? Light was sick of this supernatural crap.

L's eyes softened. "Beyond, you are fine as you are. You are not meant to be me. You're meant to replace me."

"I don't want to replace you. Why would you choose me, anyway, when you have Mello and Near to pick from?"

L wiped the blood from under his nose. "Acting like this is not helping your cause. You will be staying here today with Roger. If you'll excuse me, I have files I need to attend to, and I will _not_ be disturbed any longer." With that, L left the room.

Beyond was fuming. His heart was still thumping wildly in his chest. L had only seemed mildly irritated by Beyond's attack and behavior. Watari had a deep frown on his face.

"It's time for you to get cleaned up. Roger is down the hall if you need something. Do not disturb L." Light would have laughed at this if he could. He knew Beyond wasn't going to leave L alone.

Watari left the room, and Beyond sat for awhile. He absently went through his pile of clothes, grabbing a white shirt and blue jeans. He put them on and stood in front of the mirror. His long brown hair wasn't quite the shade of L's, and his skin wasn't as fair. His red eyes would never convince anyone that he was L…. He would… in time.

Beyond stole some things from the other children: black hair dye, pale foundation, and black eyeliner. He quickly went to work. He started by chopping his hair off, making it a little shorter than L's. He was displeased by this. He then colored his hair black. The make-up was irritating for him. He had never applied it before, and he ended up putting on either too much or too little. When he was finally done, he stared at himself in the mirror, grinning like a clearly insane person. He looked about L's age. But there was still no way they could even pass as related. The amount of make-up he had on was ridiculous. "I am L." Beyond said, his voice suddenly wearing an accent. This man was insane. Not a little, a lot.

He found himself in front of a mahogany door, silence all around him. He slowly opened it, peering inside to see L—he was reading a stack of papers, deep in thought. He didn't look up. The room was nothing fancy, just empty white walls. There were stacks of files and books everywhere.

He felt Beyond smile. What was he up to? He crept forward on bare feet. He wanted to scream at L to look up—to pay attention… but he couldn't. One of L's long fingers was between his teeth. L gave a frustrated sigh—he didn't bother looking up. "Beyond, I'm busy. Roger is down the hall. If you're hungry, he can make you something." The copy said nothing as he stood next to the bed. L's knees came up protectively, his eyes wary and frightened as he looked at him. "Beyond?"

"Shut up." Came a fond reply, there was no anger behind it. His heart rate sped up as he looked at L, his lip still swollen and red. The shallow cut on his forehead had been cleaned. L's hand dropped from his face.

L's eyes nervously flicked to the open door. "Beyond, I will not ask you again." The numbers above his head shifted quickly. Beyond reached forward, plucked the papers out of his hand, and sent them scattering. L went to move, but Beyond was on him, pushing him down onto the bed, grasping his thin wrists and pinning them down. He easily overpowered the other boy. "Get off me now!" L said sternly. Whatever affection he had for this kid was gone. He struggled briefly. Beyond stared at him. He didn't say a word for several minutes. Light was shocked when Beyond pressed his lips violently to L's. He couldn't tell who was more shocked out of the three. Beyond moved back so that his face was an inch away from L. His black eyes were wide.

Beyond gave a pained cry when L's smashed his forehead against his. He grabbed both of L's wrists together with a single hand and hit him hard across the face. L's face turned back, his lip bloody and his eyes defiant. "Release me or I will have to call Roger. I will not allow you to treat me with such disrespect." Hit him and run! Light wanted to scream at him.

Beyond kneed L in the crotch then shushed his pained whimpers. "Shhh Shhh… It's okay, L… It's okay." Light had, at first, found these dreams interesting, but he didn't want them anymore. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to see this.

"Let me go…" Came L's soft words. It wasn't a plea, it was a command. Beyond continued to stare at L. He was oddly fascinated by his hair, his eyes, his face, skin… everything.

"You know I can't… Do you know what I'm going to do?" L frowned. "I'm going to take everything you have. I'm going to kill you, and then, I will become you." His words chilled Light. He leaned in closer next to L's neck and inhaled deeply. Light was disgusted, was he in love with L? This was so sick. He willed Beyond to release L.

With those words, L fought. He pushed at Beyond, trying desperately to get him away. The numbers dwindled smaller and smaller as the fight left L. Beyond easily kept him at bay. "There's no escape. This is inevitable."

"Nothing is inevitable," came L's empty reply. Then he yelled for Roger. Beyond quickly covered his mouth, but it was too late. The moment he let go of L's arms, all his strength was there. Beyond was on the floor, his mouth filled with copper, and L was rushing out the door. Beyond stood up, enraged. "L!" He screamed. "L!" He stormed from the room, intent on getting his prey. He was stopped by Roger's voice in the hall. He cursed under his breath. He moved to the nearest window and pushed it open. "See you soon,_ L_…"

To be continued . . .

A/N: Special thank you to my fantastic beta JJ! Thank you to my reviewers: BeyondTheLimit1213, Viyola, cuppycake pandal, aquastreak243, Princess of Oblivion, Cassidy304, Loves-Chihuahuas. Thank you for all your kind words. It means a lot to me! Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it, let me know. Hit review :D


	5. Chapter 5

**Apparition**

**Chapter 5**

**Warning: Major spoilers for Death Note: Another Note**

Light's eyes snapped open. The teen rubbed the sleep from his eyes and willed his heart beat to calm. He stared at the white ceiling. How could he look at L and Beyond's relationship the same anymore. Beyond felt something primal for L, whether it was love or he wanted complete dominance over L, he didn't know. Either way, it made the situation worse. It scared him the way Beyond Birthday looked at L. He has this intense infatuation with him. Like he was a child with a new toy that he wanted to take apart piece by piece. To have complete dominance over him. Light felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He had never been so worried for another person; he never thought he'd be worried about the world's greatest detective.

He let his head fall sideways, L's bed was empty. L was always in the room when he woke up. His heart rate was back to where it was when he woke up, loud in his ears. He quickly sat up, the room spun. He grabbed his head between his hands and hissed. The room came into focus and he got to his feet. The panic set in as he looked in the bathroom then back to L's bed, it was in complete disarray, the sheets and blankets in an odd pile at the foot of the mattress, this only happened when L actually went to sleep.

His fingers found the cool door knob, he twisted and pulled but the door didn't budge. "God Damn it Beyond!" He yelled and violently pulled at the door, knowing it only locked from the inside. Sounds from the other side reached him. L's voice, then a loud crash. Light's fist slammed against the door. "Open the fucking door!" His voice strained as he yelled. He felt the fear overtake him as he screamed.

This time when he pulled at the door, it opened. He came face to face with L, his eyes wide with bewilderment. "What happened? Did Beyond-" Light started breathlessly until he saw the room. Papers were scattered everywhere, the computers were in pieces on the floor, and the chairs were oddly lined up in a row…. For once, Light was at a loss for words.

"I came out here to get coffee and this happened... It took 36 seconds for Beyond to destroy everything." The dark smudges under his eyes were more prominent, if that was at all possible.

"It's backed up on a separate hard drive right?"

"Yes, of course."

Light gave a sigh of relief, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Good…. Good…." He released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. L was alright…. He's alright.

"Oh, dear Lord." Light jumped at Watari's voice. The old man was dressed in a robe and plaid pajama pants. "Ryuzaki, what happened in here?" He immediately looked at Light suspiciously.

Light put in hands up, defensively. "I have nothing to do with this. I'm going to go put some sweats on. Ryuzaki, _you_ can explain everything."

He left L to do all the lying. He seemed pretty good at that. All he wanted to do was get out of that room and forget what happened, forget what Beyond had shown him.

X.X.X

He came out dressed and warm after about ten minutes. Most of the mess had been cleaned up. Watari looked upset and L looked….. exhausted. Had Beyond been showing him things in his sleep? Has he even slept to find out? Either seemed plausible. He watched L pick up a piece of paper with two fingers and hold it up to view what was on it. If he was left to clean the mess, it would never get done.

"I had the others take the morning off so we could clean up. Ryuzaki hasn't been much assistance…." L looked up at the name.

"I can see that. So…. Watari, while I help, tell me about Beyond Birthday." A deep frown appeared on the old man's face.

"Normally, I wouldn't tell you such things but Ryuzaki has given me permission to. Beyond was a troubled boy. I had recognized his intelligence early on and took him under my wing. Ryuzaki was kind to the boy as he was all the children but Beyond mistook it for something more than friendship. Beyond wasn't quite sure how to express these emotions he felt, so he lashed out aggressively. At first, he took to following Ryuzaki around like a lost puppy. It proved to be a nuisance. Once we put an end to it, he started to attack the other children. Beyond physically and verbally abused the other children causing all of them to detest him. I caught him several times attempting to break into Ryuzaki's living quarters. He stole other children's possessions also. As you can see, he was escalating.

After we reprimanded him, he started to lash out at Ryuzaki. At first, verbally. Saying odd things here and there, then he digressed to violence. He started with what he claimed were friendly shoves or accidently hitting Ryuzaki or pushing him down. Ryuzaki started to lock himself in his room for long hours. He didn't like the boy but it seemed impossible to keep him away. We sat down and talked about the boy's future at the school. We knew it was time for him to leave; he was old enough to be on his own. After reviewing his psych profile, we saw he was not emotionally stable enough for the school. A week before he was to leave, he attacked Ryuzaki and tried to murder him. He left before we could send him away. We didn't see much of him after that. We knew he was out there. He sent strange letters to Ryuzaki, sent him… gifts. Mostly severed limbs and other unsavory things. No matter where we went, Ryuzaki would be mailed these items or they would be left at the door. It frightened him greatly. He started to close off then, not going out in public. I knew that if Beyond wanted to hurt him, he would. You of course know of the case in Los Angeles." Watari sighed. "That's…. that is all I know about Beyond. Ryuzaki of course is very secretive; he doesn't tell me many things. Anything else, he will have to tell you."

Light forced a smile, "Thanks Watari. That was really informative. I'm surprised Ryuzaki let you tell me….well, anything…." The elderly man went back to work. L was still examining the same piece of paper across the room, seemingly oblivious to the conversation. It was getting ridiculous. Light shook his head with a fond smile. They had a lot of work to do.

With Light and Watari working together to clean the room, they got it done in about an hour. Watari left not long after that to get new computers and snacks. Luckily, L seemed to have money he could throw around.

Light saw Watari off and turned to face the detective. L had a deep frown on his face; his eyes met Light's with curiosity. "Light, I was thinking about how to proceed with this….. problem. I have a vast knowledge of the occult and the supernatural but I have never come across any legitimate evidence of a psychic. I'm 45 percent sure that if we bring a psychic here some of our questions will be answered." He paused, taking a breath. "Watari has agreed to help find a solution."

Light gave a tired sigh. "I thought Kira would be keeping me awake, now I have a ghost keeping me awake. Things keep getting weirder and weirder…. Ryuzaki did…. Did Beyond…." He was lost in his words and thoughts. Did he want to know the answer? Could he handle the answer? Would L tell him?

"Yes Light?"

Light shook his head, giving a charming smile. "It's nothing." L peered at him for several moments, curious still. "Really, it's nothing. I've got to get dressed and so forth. I'm going out with Misa for lunch. You'll be alright here with Watari?"

"Of course… I didn't know you cared for my wellbeing." A sly look crossed his face. Light hated that look; it usually accompanied L accusing him of being a mass murderer.

Light scoffed. "Of course I care, who else is capable of catching Kira." It wasn't a question; there was no one else in his mind.

X.X.X

Light took a longer shower than he normally would. He was usually being harassed by L, telling him he's taking too long and using all the hot water. He lives to make his life miserable. Light emerged an hour later looking tired but handsome. He wasn't exactly thrilled to see Misa. He did want to get out of the headquarters and take a break. A break from Kira, Beyond, and everything else. Not that Misa was any better. She never stops talking.

Watari had returned with the new computers when he returned to the main room. "Ah, Light before you go, I wanted to let you know I will be looking into some things while you are gone; hopefully this will be over soon and Ryuzaki will be able to focus on the Kira investigation." Light nodded in agreement. L was busy on his laptop; he didn't look up as Misa entered the room a wide grin on her red pouty lips.

"LIGHT!" She cried happily, her arms swinging around him and pulling him into an overbearing hug.

"Hi-Misa-" He gasped and pushed back a little to breathe.

She batted her eyelashes at him. "Did I tell you I got a role in a movie? I'm SO excited! I'll tell you all about it!" She spared a quick glance at L as Light sighed internally. It was going to be a long lunch.

The restaurant Misa chose was surprisingly very classy. Quiet and the servers were very polite.

"I can't believe pervy Ryuzaki let you out of those handcuffs."

Light gave a half smile. "I was as surprised as you. He seemed adamant that they were removed. I was suspicious as to what he was up to but so far, nothing has changed. Well, besides him not being by me every second."

Misa stirred the straw in her fruity drink, lashes lowered. "I've missed you Light; I wish you weren't trying to catch Kira. I want to be with you every second. You never call or text me…."

"I've told you this many times Misa, I'm trying to prove my innocence and the only way to do that is to catch Kira." Light reached his hand across the table and took hers. "When this is all over, we can be together." A half smile played onto her lips then it shifted to a frown.

"What if something happens to you? I don't know what I'd do…." Her gaze shifted to the side. Light wished that he could return her feelings but he couldn't.

"I'll be fine. I'll be fine." He spoke the words, but there was no truth behind them.

X.X.X

When Light returned, L was in the same spot, no surprise there. The computers were set up and the place looked good as new. L looked relieved that he was back, but made no comment.

Light rolled his chair next to L and took his spot at his computer. He opened up his file on Yotsuba. He viewed the list of the higher ups. They all had a lot to gain if the competition died; money and power were their rewards. It really could be any of them. They needed to focus on this group and weed out who couldn't be Kira. It was very time consuming and rather boring. He worked in silence for about thirty minutes before the others arrived. Thankfully, they didn't notice any difference with the computers or paperwork.

Light smiled at his father as he discussed something with Mogi. He missed being at home with his family but he needed to be here with L.

A loud crash startled him from his thoughts. Matsuda yelped at the sound. L's wide eyes met his. Beyond hadn't acted up when the others had been here. There's a first time for everything.

"What was that?" Mogi's voice broke the silence. Before L could answer, the computers flickered then shut off.

"Fuck!" Came a growl from Aizawa. "I hadn't saved any of my documents!"

"Calm down. I will have Watari look into this." L took his cell phone from his pocket and dialed. He shut the phone a moment later. "No answer." His eyes shifted to Light. "Light and I will investigate."

Light shook his head, did L think he was stupid? "I don't think so. I'll go up and check on Watari."

"This isn't a democracy, I'm going." L was as stubborn as Light, it was no use fighting.

"I'll go with you guys." Matsuda chirped, standing up.

Light didn't care either way. Matsuda would probably get scared and run back anyways.

Light took in a deep breathe, hoping everything was alright. He felt it was a trap of some sort but if something had happened to Watari…..

The three of them headed up the stairs; Light first, L, then Matsuda.

They walked in silence and they were soon above the main room. The lights flickered briefly as they entered nothing appeared out of the ordinary.

"Watari?" L called, his voice rising louder than Light had ever heard. Nothing…. Something was off about this.

There was an odd static in the air, the hair the back of Light's neck rose. "L, I think we should head back down. I have a bad feeling about this…."

Light heard the other two stop walking. "I concur." L didn't seem worried but he was very good at not showing it.

"Matsuda! What are you doing?" Light turned at the sound of L's shocked voice and gasped in surprise. Matsuda had his arm slung around L's neck, pressing it tightly against the inside of his arm. L's short nails clawed at him.

"Let go of him, now!" Matsuda's face twisted into an unnaturally wide grin, his eyes were a milky color.

Beyond took no notice to Light. "Now…. Where were we?" He leaned in close to L's hair as he struggled to free himself. "Yes…." He hissed, "I was squeezing the life out of you until _it,_" his eyes looked away from L for only a moment. "Intervened. Naughty naughty boy. I'll have to do something about him won't I?" L shook his head furiously.

"No. Leave him…. Out of this…." L said breathlessly, the fight leaving him as he tried to pull in air. Beyond made no response. Light's sight shifted between the two. How was he going to get out of this? Could he overpower Matsuda without injuring him? He just wanted it to stop.

L's eyes fluttered as he struggled to stay conscious. Beyond smiled sweetly at Light, his voice slowly fading out. "I want to show you something Light Yagami. Nighty night." Light panicked, knowing what was going to happen, he couldn't leave L with that psycho. He took a step forward and staggered to the floor as everything faded to black.

X.X.X

The haze slowly lifted from Light's sight. He was standing in grass, surrounded by children and teens dressed in black; his eyes followed theirs to a casket about to descend into the ground. The children had frowns on their faces but no tears in their eyes. Light was disturbed by this. Were they not sad someone died?

He looked to his right to see a younger L and Watari. Watari had a strong hand on L's boney shoulder. "It's not your fault L. We couldn't predict this was going to happen." L made no response to the would be comforting words, his dark hair fell carelessly over his face. He looked up through his lashes and hair to see Beyond, staring at him. Beyond was on the other side of the mahogany casket, his red eyes never wavered. The attention caused L to fidget nervously.

"Wammy….. I don't want him here anymore. He's obscenely obsessed with me." The name threw Light. Wammy? Was that his real name?

"He's just fascinated by you that's all. I wouldn't worry about it L. After what happened here with A, we're going to take extra precautions with the others. This will not happen again." The person in the coffin must be this 'A' they're speaking of. Was he a child too?

L's thumb pressed idly against his bottom lip. "Let's hope not…."

Everything suddenly shifted around him, blurring into an elegant room. Red curtains hung on the large windows, a fireplace lit the dark room. L sat on a maroon couch, his legs pulled up as he munched on strawberry shortcake, the plate balancing on his knees. He looked up as Beyond came into the quiet room, his face twisted in an ugly scowl. He threw himself onto the other couch; his eyes came to focus on L.

"Hello Beyond." L said politely, Beyond's anger didn't seem to concern him.

"…. how do you do it?"

L licked his fork. "How do I do what?"

Beyond leaned forward, fingers fidgeting. "Your job, how do you deal with everything you see?"

"I know that what I'm doing is saving lives, providing justice for those who need it, nothing could be more rewarding. Why do you ask Beyond?"

"A killed himself. He was a good friend. He was the only one who would talk to me besides you…."

"Give the others time, you're different and they're children. They're frightened by your eyes. I must admit, they had me shaken at first. They're unique, special. I know that you are having a hard time; things will change as you get older. You'll see."

Beyond smiled, an honestly happy smile. "Thank you L." He leaned back into the chair, the smile still on his lips. His eyes kept wandering back to L. Beyond seemed normal. He looked like a normal kid, sandy blonde hair, slight sunburn on his cheeks, baggy pants and a blue shirt. He looked so different. How did he turn into a murderer?

There was another flash and he was standing in a house. Dark stains and holes marred the green loveseat. A very young boy walked out, sandy hair…. Red eyes… Beyond. His bottom lip was broken open, blood dribbled down his chin. His eyes rested on Light. This boy had seen too much in his life already.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU AND YOUR FUCKING BULLSHIT!" A man's voice came from another room. A crazed laugh followed, a woman. "You're insane! I want you and that psycho kid out of my house now!"

"Now, now, now let's not go around throwing the word psycho around. He's as sane as me."

"Heh, yeah as insane as you. I tried, I really tried to get you and Beyond help. You have to want it. He's sick, he needs psychological help and you're adding to it by beating him!" Out walked a man, smile lines heavy on his face. A woman followed, her dark hair wild and unkempt. Light could tell she had once been beautiful "I'm leaving, I won't be back." He headed toward the door, but the woman was there, tears of anger poured down her face. Beyond sat down on the filthy couch, his eyes following their movements, completely void of any emotion.

Her hands reached at him, grappling for an arm. "I'm never letting you leave! I love you! I _need_ you!"

He pushed her back. "Don't you fucking touch me. It's over Belief. I can't take it anymore. Goodbye."

A crazed glint appeared in her eyes. "Fine…. Fine…" She walked away from sight. This isn't good, she's up to something. "leave me…. Leave me…" Her words trailed off.

A deep frown remained on the man's face. "Goodbye Beyond. Take care of your mother for me…."

Beyond smiled. "Don't worry about us, I'd worry about yourself." His words chilled Light. With those words, Beyond's mother came out of the kitchen screaming, knife in hand. The man never had a chance. He turned at the sound of her voice, and the blade was suddenly in his neck, it was jerked out and blood spewed from the mortal wound. She laughed and laughed as blood sprayed onto her face and hair. The man's mouth opened in a silent scream, his fingers uselessly clutching the wound as he fell to his knees. Within a few moments, he fell forward to the floor, blood pooling. Belief stood over his body, laughing, tears streaming down her face.

"That's what you get for trying to leave me. You belong to me. Now we'll be together forever. Forever." She turned the knife on herself; jamming it up into her jugular. Beyond said nothing from the couch as two people died in front of him, he only stared at Light with those sinister red eyes. Distantly, Light heard the sound of Belief's body hitting the floor.

"Maybe someday…" Beyond said absently. "Someone will take me away from all of this… death."

To be continued….

AN: Sorry for the late update. My beta has been busy, so it's just me now. Thank you to everyone who's been reading. Special thank you to reviewers! I love them- Keep them coming!


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